Category: Performance Critiques

This is the Sunday writer’s mic

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmWKYTKxGvg

0m11s I would never actually open with this joke

0m30s It did work, there was no reason to address it

0m43s This “fooood” line is no more, I swear to god

2m15s Always good to get a “pfffff”

3m01s The “adoption” and “pro choice” should’ve been cut but the “sometimes” didn’t get a laugh so I tried to keep going

3m20s It’s nice when a premise gets a big laugh

4m20s I ended the joke early because I ran out of time

Overall: The suicide joke is getting a good response, and it’s interesting that a premise of mine got a big laugh. My older (and more reliable) material didn’t do as well and I got some feedback that my Russian mother voice / accent kept changing, and I did notice that on the video.

This is the midnight show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5K80A56JME

0m13s The last comic got off depressed, I had to address it

0m58s I didn’t make a strong enough of a “what the hell?” face

1m39s First time “fooood” has gotten a laugh in a while, it’s still getting cut though (I’ve stopped doing it as of Dec 3^rd – the performance critiques are a few days delayed)

3m07s Take a half second pause after “shit, no!” as it might get a laugh

3m33s That’s not my usual response but I’m trying to be in the moment more

5m53s I’m not sure if I blew this joke by stumbling on the setup or if it’s just new and not funny

7m12s Be more sarcastic with “the next Picasso”

8m18s I was going to get rid of this joke until I did it for a few people off stage that seemed to like it, and it seems to work well

8m54s Not a strong ending

Overall: The first five minutes were pretty good, then I lost the audience on the one grad school joke and never fully brought them back after that. The psychologist joke does seem to be hitting well. My little bits of crowd work were pretty weak too.

This is the 1030 show for 8 people

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1qF_6kxw2Q

0m43s Pause after “listed as in a relationship”

1m30s Cut the “fooood” joke

2m30s Since the first 1.5 minutes of my Russian family joke didn’t work, I skipped out on the rest

4m07s It should be “why haven’t we tried this yet?” not “I tried this yet?”

4m28s Wow they are slow

5m12s Once again, my crowd work gets a bigger laugh than my material

6m33s No need to call back to a joke that barely worked

Overall: I only got two solid laughs: The Jdate joke (which I had to pause extra long for) and a improvised bit. Going slower might’ve helped.

This is the 830 show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKV0e9ZRBM

0m11s The MC made a joke about himself being fat

0m46s Take a half second pause between “in a relationship” and “Igor”

1m09s Make a face for “Igor loves this” to help the laugh

1m52s I decided to ignore the random yell as I already addressed crowd work and this was at the end of a setup

3m59s No need to say “that was it”

4m12s Eating the audience’s fries is evidence I’m getting more comfortable on stage

4m54s For the Igor likes this call back, try it without the special voice

5m55s I’m not talking in my regular voice, I should sound sadder about this

7m55s If that gets interrupted again, I should say “that means” instead of “therefore”

8m02s Pause between “go to” and “high school”

8m33s Pause for a second after “Igor loves this” to see if it gets a laugh before leaving

Overall: I was getting small laughs throughout and that’s not good enough. My voice was not conversational for a lot of the jokes and that affected the laughter. On the bright side, I enjoyed eating the audience’s fries.

This is the midnight show, I’m on around 130 in the morning and I had to set the camera up in the sound booth because there were people sitting all the way in the back

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmFSemm4KXo

0m12s The MC talked about me dropping out of grad school as my 20 second intro

0m44s I could’ve done the facial expression better

1m26s The “foooood” line needs to go

1m51s Not sure why those two lines didn’t hit

3m45s Interesting one person applause break

4m40s This is the first time I’ve sung on stage, there’s a reason I didn’t start sooner, and it’s the same reason I stopped after half a second

4m57s I’ve been having good improvised responses lately

5m17s Talk way slower about standards dropping for the midnight kiss

5m27s No need for a special voice for “who is that stunning creature in the corner?”

6m03s I’m excited that get some applause

6m23s They started dropping checks

7m28s I thought that was funny

Overall: I think I did a little better than it sounds because of where the camera was positioned. It’s a good and bad sign that 3 of my 4 biggest laughs were on improvised material. It’s good in that I’m getting funnier in the moment but bad that I’m still learning how to make my jokes seem like I just came up with them instead of them being rehearsed.